Macro economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Macro economics - Essay Example Such announcement made by British Prime Minister gave rise to multiple speculations regarding the probable effect of such referendum on UK and the world economy. As no member nation has exited the union prior to this declaration of referendum, the degree of speculation has become more prominent. Recently, Mr. Cameron has downplayed the possibility of an early referendum on the ground that they will need more time to present better negotiations in terms of acquiring more freedom in trade relationships and other regulations. Accordingly, he announced that it will take at least till end of 2017 to draw a conclusion on EU and UK relationship. However, significant arguments have already been originated in support or against of such referendum (â€Å"Viewpoints: How experts see UK role in EU†). The paper will explore all such pros and cons of UK leaving European Union as identified by economists and politicians. UK holds a significant part in influencing regulations and policy formulations of European Union. However, recent measures taken by UK gave rise to the question whether the country should remain a part of EU or not. In the next segment, the arguments in favor of UK to remain as a part of EU will be analyzed. It has been observed for a long time that many European countries such as Switzerland and Norway are operating successfully in the global market without participating in EU. Both of the countries operate as single markets and do not follow any regulations or legislations incorporated by European Union in their national activities through agriculture, service sectors, home affairs etc. The countries are liable to take their own decisions regarding international trade and are not restricted by imposition of regulations by any third party. UK, in order to enjoy such freedom in enhancing their trade relations with all the emerging and economically advanced countries in the world, must come out from EU (â€Å"House of Commons†). Such

Federal Protective Service (FPS) Research Paper

Federal Protective Service (FPS) - Research Paper Example Today, the question that remains is whether the DHS has served its role by ensuring high security standards, or if it has failed to perform its role as a security body (Haulley, 2005). The Federal Protective Services (FPS) is under the DHS, and serves the purpose of providing security and services of law enforcement to the federal buildings, property, facilities, and other state assets. In order to serve this purpose, FPS has a mission statement that emphasizes their purpose and objectives, which are mainly concerned with security. FPS has therefore, employed close to 1,300 employees. These comprise of police officers, criminal investigators, support personnel, and law enforcement security officers. In addition, FPS has contracted approximately 15,000 security guards, who are in charge of the security of more than 9,000 buildings and their occupants (Haulley, 2005). In order to offer protection and security to federal facilities and personnel, FPS employs a variety of security measur es, found in its physical security program. These include installation of magnetometers, alarm systems, as well as entry control systems, which are operational in federal buildings every day. In addition, the FPS provides uniformed police response to security concerns, and provides follow-ups on such concerns through further investigations. Different seminars on crime prevention are offered to a variety of agencies by the FPS, depending on their organizational needs. FPS has hoped that all these will propel it to becoming a world-class security agency (Goldstein, 2009). In providing buildings security and protection of other critical infrastructure, the FPS uses strategies that enable detection, deterrence, disruption, and investigation of threats using authorities concerned with law enforcement. Additionally, FPS mainly relies on its risk management program, which is supposed to be set to the standards of Interagency Security Committee and the National Infrastructure Protection Pla n. Additionally, FPS ensures effective communication and coordination among its law enforcement personnel, by using the MegaCenter, its central communication point (Goldstein, 2009). Although the FPS works to ensure the security of federal buildings, it has not come up with comprehensive measures to address the security concerns in these buildings. For instance, the software FPS has adopted for security inspections is ineffective in achieving high security standards. The Modified Infrastructure Survey Tool (Mist) is a security software that FPS used to inspect federal buildings and expose any security threats. This included simplistic tests, which were then uploaded in a centralized database, after recommendations from the software. This software was unreliable, as it did not allow for comparison of security risks, between different federal buildings. Additionally, this software cannot address terrorism threats, since it lacks the capability to factor their potential consequences (G oldstein, 2009). Apart from Mist, the FPS developed another system called the Risk Assessment and Management Program (Ramp), which would be used to test federal buildings for security threats, but equally failed. In its initial use, this software caused the mysterious loss of recorded inspections from its database. In addition, ramp could not connect to its servers in remote areas. Therefore, the inspectors lacked a way of ensuring that the

World Trade Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

World Trade Organization - Essay Example As an business community organization, its main focus is set upon creating a uniform set of trade rules between nations that will ensure a smooth, efficient, trustworthy, and assured business transaction among member nations. As an advocate of free and global trade, WTO gives consumers the opportunity to have a greater market for demand and choice of various products as imported from various nation suppliers. The end result, as the organization envisions it, is supposed to be a more balanced, prosperous, peaceful, and accountable economic world. Balance and accountability in the economic world... That statement carries a tremendous weight in the WTO. As such, the organization also functions as a dispute settler among its member countries in relation to their trade agreements. To quote: Trade friction is channelled into the WTO's dispute settlement process where the focus is on interpreting agreements and commitments, and how to ensure that countries' trade policies conform with them.

A Correlation between Unequal Power Relations and the Way Language is Assignment

A Correlation between Unequal Power Relations and the Way Language is Used - Assignment Example The second of the three stages is all the more important because it has a lot to do with one’s spontaneity and judgment which ultimately become the major deciding factors in making the communication successful and effective. That is how the world draws the line of distinction between ‘great orators/authors’ and the mediocre and the bad. The choice of words, however, is a function of one’s instincts, emotions, and needs. The desire to dominate, to control, to feel powerful is a universal instinct that defies the boundaries of time and space. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that this basic instinct, or rather a base instinct, successfully manages to creep into all human transactions and manifests itself, more noticeably in the process of verbal communication. But, at the same time, the need to ‘get things done’ is also a matter of uppermost concern, and its importance cannot be understated. It is this factor that has the power to suppress the urge to dominate; it makes one willing to subordinate himself in a transaction. In any given instance, it is either the urge to dominate or the need to subordinate that finally stays, and it is decided by the prevailing equation of power in the given context. It boils down to the conclusion that â€Å"our words are never neutral; they carry the power that reflects the interests of those who speak or write.† (John Fiske, 1994; Fowler, et. al., 1979) An interesting quality of dominant discourse is that it usually represents and reinforces the interests of the elite section of the society. Professor Sue L. T. McGregor, in Critical Discourse Analysis – A Primer, says, â€Å"One of the central attributes of dominant discourse is its power to interpret conditions, issues, and events in favor of the elite.†   

How can microeconomics help small business owners Essay

How can microeconomics help small business owners - Essay Example Microeconomics derived from the Greek word â€Å"mikros† which means small, deals with a part of the economy rather than the whole. It deals with total output, total employment, total spending but in relation to single firms and single households. Microeconomics seeks to understand the individual consumer, the buying decisions that are made at this level and the different factors that affect the consumer behavior. The subject matter of microeconomics is mainly commodity pricing, factor pricing and welfare theory. Commodity pricing entails how prices of commodities are affected by market forces of demand and supply. The price of commodities usually determines the demand of the products by the consumer. Factor pricing are the determination of rewards for the different factors in the production process that include land, labor, and capital. These earn the business rewards in terms of wages, rents, interest and profits. Welfare theory explains the optimum allocation of resources in order to maximize utility. It is therefore crucial for small business owners to understand more about the consumers and different factors that affect the spending behavior of consumers such as price of products, income and supply Any business whether start-up or on-going needs to undertake a research of the market and actually draw up its business plan before starting operations. This gives the business its objectives and goals and provides sense of direction in the market. The following are some of the ways in which micro economics aids small business owners achieve their business goals and objectives: Understanding the individual behavior of the consumer. Consumer decision making is the most critical aspect of the micro economics as consumer spending makes up the highest part of the economy. Consumers after spending usually save surplus invest and put away for future use. Microeconomics determines how much a household save, for how long and

Do Childrens Feet Grow with Age Essay Example for Free

Do Childrens Feet Grow with Age Essay Newman (2011:35) states ‘older kids have bigger feet’. This experiment will explore through an investigation whether childrens shoe sizes do get bigger as they get older. In order for this to be proven, data needs to be collencted, this will be done so by going into a local school and verbally asking pupils and their parents what shoe size they take. The main objective of this experiment if to find out if the hypothesis is correct or incorrect. Aim The aim of this experiment is to determine whether childrens shoe sizes get bigger as they get older. The hypothesis will be tested by completing an experiment, then by examining the results it will be seen whether the hypothesis was right or wrong. Hypothesis – As children get older their shoe size increases Null Hypothesis – As children get older their shoe size does not increase. Method It was decided to collect the data in form of a simple table. This was decided because only certain information was needed about an age and shoe size, therefore a questionnaire would not be suitable. Also, considering the investigation was mainly aimed at children, the table was the simplest way to collect the data. It was decided to ask the parents of the younger children what their shoe size was as it was assumed most younger children would not know their shoe size. Design and Materials The type of study completed is one which gives an outcome of qualitative data. Furthermore, this can then be shown to be ‘continuous data’, where the data can fall anywhere over a certain range and the scale is only restricted by the accuracy of measuring, in this circumstance, measuring children’s shoe sizes (Mathematics Enhancement programme 2000).

Benefits of the Eclectic Paradigm

Benefits of the Eclectic Paradigm The usefulness of the eclectic paradigm as a framework for combining and relating alternative theories of international business, and in coping with changes over time in the practice of international business Introduction The eclectic paradigm, namely the OLI paradigm was put together by the economist John Henry Dunning (1927-2009) in the late 1970’s. Dunning’s early research focused on American owned affiliates in the UK and their higher productivity compared to their local competitors. He wondered how and why these firms were able to compete locally with indigenous UK firms and started to raise questions about the advantages of multinational firms as an outcome of their activities abroad. He identified certain firm specific advantages and also advantages derived from the country of origin (Dunning, 2001). These are first two components of the later assembled paradigm, the O which refers to Ownership advantages and the L which refers to locational advantages. These early works and the early identification of the O and L and their mutual interaction are initially reflected in the book American Investment in British Manufacturing Industry (Dunning, 1958). This stream of research continued through the 1960’s when Dunning was working on American firms in Europe. Later during the 1970s, influenced by Buckley and Casson, Dunning started to address transaction cost explanations in an internationalization perspective (the I component of the paradigm) in addition to the previously identified O and L advantages. He was concerned about why firms decided to generate and exploit their specific advantages internally rather than through the open market forces. This broadened his perspective and articulated more clearly the early view he had on the O and L components. And by the time he was putting together the rest of the paradigm at the end of the 1970 ´s, he looked back to the 50 ´s and 60’s and the theories of Vernon, Hymer and others and interpreted them from within this framework and elaborated on how their ideas were expressed from the eclectic paradigm. Intellectually, he brought everything together, not just contemporary but also past theories, bringing all these explanations together in some sort of rubric that allows to connect the m. Since then, the eclectic paradigm’s simplicity and yet its thoroughness smoothly integrates international business theories and allows researchers from different fields and disciplines to systematically explain the growth of multinational activity (Cantwell and Narula, 2001). The Eclectic Paradigm Revisited The eclectic paradigm itself is not an explanation of the MNC rather it helps explain the level, determinants and patterns of the foreign value added activities (international production) of firms, and or countries. The paradigm offers a framework from which an explanation can be obtained. It is not itself a predicting theory but it is a way of connecting different theories which can be then used to help understand different types of foreign production according to their specific contexts and motivations (Dunning, 2001). The Eclectic Paradigm and its OLI components have gone through different revisions and are defined as follows: O: Ownership advantages. These are firm net competitive advantages that companies from one country possess over those firms from other countries when servicing a specific market. L: Location advantages. The degree to which companies decide to locate abroad value added activities. These value added activities can be the result of internalizing. I: Internalization. The degree to which companies add value to their output by identifying as more profitable to internalize the generation and exploitation of their ownership advantages rather than through the open market. (Dunning, 2000, 2001; Ietto-Gillies, 2012) An interesting aspect of the OLI elements is that they are not independent from each other but that they interact. For example, the value added activities generated by locational advantages feed back to the O advantages. That is why an often misunderstood and controversial element is the O, because of the fact that it is called ownership, scholars like Rugman relate it only to firm specific advantages. However, the O also refers to advantages that come from the institutions of the country of origin (home country). In other words, what Dunning (2001) initially meant by (O) Ownership referred to the nationality of ownership as opposed to the ownership of assets by a firm. It was later on that Dunning acknowledged and expanded the Ownership advantages to include firm specific and other types of advantages such as the ones resulting from engaging in foreign production. Another reason why this is so important is because it does not necessarily imply that the MNE has to be legally defined by the ownership of assets, but if instead there is an international business network that is not entirely owned, it could still be consistent with the notion of capabilities generated within such a network associated with firms of a certain nationality of origin. On the other hand the L element has to do with host country advantages and it is just not necessary to compare the host with the home but different host countries with one another in determining where the firm goes to produce. OLI: Combining and relating IB theories The eclectic paradigm comes from other international business theories which are themselves influenced by economic and organizational theories. The paradigm draws from theories of the individual firm such transaction cost economics (internalization) and market power theories and their relationship with markets and integrates them with macroeconomic approaches to foreign production such as the product lifecycle theory (Cantwell and Narula, 2001). This encompassing aspect of the paradigm has brought many criticisms, one of the most popular ones calls it a â€Å"shopping list of variables†. Dunning (2001) responded to this criticism by clarifying that each variable of the paradigm is constructed based on well-known and accepted economic and organizational theories. In addition, he clarifies that the objective of the paradigm was not to explain all kinds of international production but to offer a framework that helps organize a methodology that can lead to a better explanation of different kinds of foreign production. Vernon’s product lifecycle theory is the most inherently dynamic or evolutionary in character of all the theoretical approaches of the paradigm. Hymer’s market power and Buckley and Casson internalization theories were limited to the period in which they were writing about them, during which an evolutionary perspective of the MNE was not yet explored. On the other hand the product life cycle theory was contemporaneous to the conditions of the 1960 ´s and therefore Dunning included this evolutionary character in the paradigm. This became an important part of the paradigm in the sense that it gave it an evolutionary and dynamic perspective on how firms grow over time, which is an integral part of the way the eclectic paradigm should be interpreted and used (Dunning, 2001). In addition, from an evolutionary approach, the Eclectic Paradigm’s internalization advantages are attributable to the conditions of improved organizational learning and technology creation, rather than to the conditions for a more efficient cost-minimizing organization of an established set of transactions. This opens up the possibilities of alliances in order to increase ownership advantages through cooperation. This takes the paradigm beyond a basic transactions costs perspective and expands the types of ownership advantages, from advantages in line with Bain -which assumes advantages to exist be prior to going abroad- to cooperative and interdependent generated ones (Tolentino, 2001). The Future of the Eclectic Paradigm in IB The eclectic paradigm has not only faced criticisms but also faces the challenges of an increasingly changing international business environment due to globalization and technological advances. In the last decades MNC activity has increased both in extent, intensity and form. There is also increased global interconnectedness and interdependence which makes inter firm alliances more common and necessary (Cantwell and Narula, 2001). RD is more complex and costly also increasing the way it is undertaken. Asset exploiting FDI is still present but asset augmenting and knowledge seeking FDI are increasingly important. All of this has created new ways of performing cross border activities and different strategies that MNCs use to pursue them. Additionally, the field of IB has also evolved. It has moved from a market driven view to a more knowledge driven one. Moreover, the level of analysis has changed as well. In the 1990’s there was a shift from the macro level approach in which countries were the unit of analysis to a more micro approach with the firm as the unit of analysis. Lately the field is going even more micro by also paying increasing attention to behavioral (individual) considerations and therefore allowing it to use the individual as the unit of analysis. Actually nowadays, the direction of the field International Business studies is becoming more multilevel in character, allowing for different levels of analysis including the countries, firms and individuals. The field has also become more interdisciplinary by drawing from other disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, biology, geography and history. Therefore taking in to account all these changes the following question arises: Is the eclectic paradigm going to hold with the external changes related to globalization, technological change and the new directions in the field of international business? I believe it will. So far the paradigm has held for the last two decades (since the 1980’s) and it seems to be getting stronger as a guiding framework in international business studies. All its components are articulated in a way that allow all the aforementioned changes. For example the Ownership component has always been relational in character and has included different interactions and levels of analysis (Ietto-Gillies, 2012). Therefore this does not present a threat to the paradigm but it actually increases its relevance because it allows for multilevel analysis by combining the different units and elements of analysis and allowing them to interact. And even though there are not many discussions of the eclectic paradigm today, the paradigm is increasingly relevant now in relation to where the international business field is going. Additionally, the paradigm has successfully embraced phenomena such as Alliance Capitalism, technological accumulation, international networks and dynamic capabilities, by which firms cooperate and mutually increase their ownership advantages. These are areas of research that according to the critics are not addressed by the paradigm. Moreover, the Location element of the paradigm increases in importance in the sense that subsidiary location has become important because they are embedded in their foreign locations and can benefit from their networks and national innovation systems and therefore adding value to the MNC. On the other hand, dynamic capabilities are created not just within firms but by interacting or cooperating with other firms and actors (Knowledge enhancing technological dynamism) and they become part of the O advantages. These ownership advantages also come from the interaction with locations with which initial ‘O’ advantages are crucial for the development of absorptive capacity. Dunning argues that capabilities or ownership advantages are a condition for internalizing. This is a dynamic view in which advantages are an evolutionary concept. Critics say that some strategic considerations may not be covered by the OLI and that routines and processes should be added (OLMA). However, even though the paradigm does not specifically address routines and processes it addresses the ownership advantages that may result from them. Every day problem solving activities create unique core capabilities that are idiosyncratic of each firm, therefore giving them or enhancing existing ‘O’ advantages. This means that the OLI paradigm still holds for strategy considerations, especially in terms of capability development (in terms of O). Also in some way in ‘L’ with economies of location and experiences of location. Finally also with the interaction between O and L which creates a complex interaction at different levels and interactions. For example in the case of subsidiaries, competence creating subsidiaries actually enhance Ownership advantages therefore giving strength to the argument that O advantages are not only originated in the MNE ´s home country but also arise in subsidiaries as well. Today we can apply this also to international business networks, so rather than a legal definition of the firm, the MNE per se, the OLI paradigm can used as a method to analyze international business networks and also the MNE firm as a strategic coordinator of such networks. In other words the subject area moves on but the paradigm remains relevant, partly because of the degree of flexibility which is built in some of these characteristics, especially in the Ownership advantages, which is by the way, the most important component of the paradigm, because it is the one that ties everything together, since it is the properties of learning that define the location or the transactional network basis of the firm. Conclusions The objective of the eclectic paradigm is not to explain the multinational firm but the level and pattern of foreign value added activities of firms. It helps explain not only the initial act of foreign production but also its growth. The eclectic paradigm overcomes the limitations of partial theories of international production and provides a holistic framework in which existing alternative and complementary theories of international production coexist (Tolentino, 2001). In the international business field a systemic approach is now more needed than ever, in addition it must be inherently interdisciplinary. At the beginning the eclectic paradigm had a more descriptive approach. It was originally developed by integrating some international business theories that come mainly from economics. Theory of trade in Vernon ´s case, theory of the firm of the industry in Hymer ´s case and again theory of the firm in Buckley and Casson’s case. Nowadays it is relevant to combine theories taken from different disciplines. Different ways to think about the world, new perspectives. That is why a systemic approach is needed. The eclectic paradigm is now it is an umbrella that handles a range of theories, a framework that enables the understanding of how these theories are tied and work together. Therefore what is happening is that the discipline is moving away from some of the earlier theories that were essentially theories of discrete individual choice, s uch as whether to export or not, or whether or not to locate production abroad, and in the case of having located production abroad, whether to license to and independent firm or produce internally with through a subsidiary. Those were firm level choice decisions, but if instead a system is wanted and the knowledge on how it evolves through time. Therefore the eclectic framework is precisely the right way to approach a complex system, because a paradigm like the eclectic paradigm provides a broader context, providing progressive interaction between different factors and actors giving it present and future relevance. References Cantwell, J.A. and Narula, R. (2001), The eclectic paradigm in the global economy, International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 155-172; revised version reprinted as Revisiting the eclectic paradigm: new developments and current issues, chapter 1 in J.A. Cantwell and R. Narula (eds., 2003), International Business and the Eclectic Paradigm: Developing the OLI Framework, New York: Routledge. Dunning, J.H. (1958).American investment in british manufacturing industry.George Allen Unwin Ltd. Dunning, J.H. (2000), The eclectic paradigm of international production: a personal perspective, chapter 5 in NTF. Dunning, J.H. (2001), The eclectic (OLI) paradigm of international production: past, present and future, International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 173-190; revised version reprinted as chapter 2 in J.A. Cantwell and R. Narula (eds., 2003), International Business and the Eclectic Paradigm: Developing the OLI Framework, New York: Routledge. Ietto-Gillies, G. (2012), Dunnings eclectic framework, chapter 9 in TCIP. Tolentino, P.E.E. (2001), From a theory to a paradigm: examining the eclectic paradigm as a framework in international economics, International Journal of the Economics of Business, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 191-209; revised version reprinted as chapter 7 in J.A. Cantwell and R. Narula (eds., 2003), International Business and the Eclectic Paradigm: Developing the OLI Framework, New York: Routledge.